Bad Customer Service From FORD Umhlanga Regarding Warranty Claims

Hi There

I have recently been on the receiving end of terrible customer service from Ford Umhlanga and would like to have this issue resolved as soon as possible.

On the 7th of July 2017, I went to Ford Umhlanga regarding the peeling interior trim plates on my Ford Fiesta ST peeling and bubbling on the edges, as this is unacceptable for a brand new 2017 model (7 months old) to have these defects.

The Service Adviser - Mr Tim ****uth assessed the car and confirmed that he will need to order new parts and this will be a warranty claim, he then advised that once the claim has been logged the parts should arrive within 10 working days and that he will be in contact to let me know when to book the car in.

Two weeks have passed (24th July) and my vehicle was due for its first service and I contacted Tim again as I thought it would be a good idea to have the part fitted while they had the vehicle for a service, he then advised that there weren't any available days in that week for the service and that the part hadn't arrived as yet due to it being on back log, and that he will confirm a date.

On the 27th I had booked my car for a service in Ford Pinetown as I still couldnt get a service date from Umhlanga for that week and I would have gone over my mileage threshold. I have received excellent service from Pinetown regarding the feedback on my vehicle, collection times and even a phone call after I had collected the car, to see if I was happy with everything.

The next day on the 28th Ford SA called to find out about my service, and my willingness to use them again. I then brought up the issue with Umhlanga about the warranty claim for my trim pieces and that I hadn't been contacted in two weeks about this issue, They advised that they will note this and follow up on the query.

Later that day I then received a call from the Pinetown Part Manager and explained the whole issue to him and he said he will call Umhlanga and sort this out immediately, at around 5:30pm I received a phone call from the Parts Manager in Umhlanga and was told that he will get back to me the next day (29th July) when he goes back to the office after he had followed up with the parts.

To this day I still haven't heard back from him or Tim and it is amazing how the Pinetown staff have given me such excellent service within one day yet, two staff from Umhlanga have let me down in a space of 5 weeks.

I then contacted Umhlanga again on the 11th of August another two weeks later and got told the same problem with parts and given the same response of no ETA.

I then called again on the 18th and threatened to report this issue to Ford SA and was told by Tim that I should give him till 5pm the same day to get back to me regarding this whole issue, which as you have guessed by now, Tim still hasn't returned my call.

How much longer does a customer have to wait or chase behind staff who are paid to provide a service which they cannot fulfill.

It is now the 22nd of August 2017 ( 37+- working days ) and I have called again today to follow up, and esquire why he has never returned my calls on 5 occasions and all I get is an apology and no reason and was yet again told that he will follow up and call me tomorrow 23rd August at 3pm.

Please note that never once was I ever given a reference number or a job card number and I have had enough with Umhlanga's bad customer service and am now going to take this up further with management and Ford SA if nothing gets sorted out by tomorrow 3pm.

I cannot stress to you how much of faith I have lost in the Ford brand as I am 23 years and have bought my second car from them, and this experience has worried me as I have another 40 years or so to buy vehicles in the market and I am seriously considering dumping the Ford brand as a whole,after receiving such terrible aftermarket service.

I do hope in good faith that this issue will get resolved urgently as I have been patient enough to give them 6 weeks grace period.